OACAC Head Start sustained a significant federal funding drop under “sequestration,” the result of automatic spending cuts triggered earlier this year when Congress failed to agree on budget terms. The early childhood education program will lose 5 percent, or nearly $600,000, of its $11.7 million federal budget.

On Thursday, officials with the nonprofit corporation announced specific changes that will result from the budget cuts. They include shutting down centers, cutting centers, reducing hours and scaling back services such as busing.

“There’s going to be lots of children that are not going to have the experience that we would have been able to give them,” Shinn-Brown said.

Currently, OACAC serves 1,570 children in its Head Start and Early Head Start programs located in 47 centers. The majority of those enrolled are age 4. The changes kick in Sept. 1.

Head Start takes a comprehensive approach to early childhood education. They focus on academic skills, social and emotional skills and mental and physical health.

“Low-income children, the children that we’re serving, need more than just the preschool experience,” she said. “Their families need support and encouragement to get engaged, to stay engaged, to view school as a positive experience for them and for their children. They need the opportunity for someone to mentor and coach them.”

Shinn-Brown has worked for the OACAC Head Start program since 1994 and became emotional while talking about the tough decisions the leadership had to make with impact from staff and others. The program employs about 400.

(Page 2 of 2)

“Many of the classrooms that we’re closing are classrooms that I helped open, they’re staff that I helped hire — certainly staff that I helped train — and it is incredibly sad to see staff that you’ve invested so much time and energy in go through the chaos and uncertainty of a reorganization,” she said.

Shinn-Brown, who notified each center about the planned changes prior to the public announcement Thursday, is “optimistic” that preschool programs housed in school districts, private program and other non-profit agencies will hire the staff that will not return next year.

Dayna Campbell, a mother of four, is director of the Nixa Head Start, which will only serve half as many students next year. At least half of the staff will lose their jobs.

“It’s sad that this is all happening here,” she said.

Campbell, who doesn’t yet know if she’ll be able to keep her job, has reassured staff members. She said it’s hard for anyone to lose their job in this economy.